The Varsity Blues men’s soccer team redeemed themselves on Sunday with a 1-0 win against the only team to beat them this year, the Carleton Ravens. Playing without their starting goalkeeper Luciano Lombardi—forced out after an injury in Saturday’s tie against Trent—the Blues had an aggressive offensive strategy, pushing the ball up the field quickly, creating several opportunities to score early on. The first of these came four minutes in, when Toronto nearly converted a corner kick, forcing a close save by the veteran Ravens goalkeeper, Arjun Langford.
“Last week we had prepared for Carleton [with] a little too much emphasis on what they were going to do, and we played a little too defensively,” said Blues head coach Anthony Capotosto. “We learned from last week’s game that we didn’t have to do that today and so we lined up with a more offensive system.”
This approach was particularly bold against Carleton, the top team in the Eastern division who hadn’t lost in 31 regular season games. What the Blues provided in energy and ambition, the undefeated Ravens answered with skill and patience. Carleton’s midfield often out-maneuvered the Blues, moving the ball effectively and dictating the pace of the game.
The second half saw a reversal in strategies, as the Blues committed to winning possession of the ball with the Ravens on the defence. Blues captain Dustin Chung commented on this strategic change.
“The one thing that we were lacking in the first half was the technical part,” he said. “We’re a technical team. We can put the ball in the net and we can spread the ball around. We went in at half-time and [Coach] Anthony Capotosto said ‘You know what guys, we’re going to have to make a better effort at keeping the ball, widening up in the wings a little, getting open and doing that extra little bit of running so we could get the ball moving.’ That was most definitely the strategy in the second half.”
Although the Ravens continued to create opportunities, the Blues defence was up for the fight. A late offensive push sucked the air out of Varsity Centre as fifth-year Carleton striker Matthew D’Angelo beat first-year Toronto keeper John Smits to the ball. Smits had him covered and secured the crucial save. Smits came through again as a free kick taken by Carleton bounced off the post and was quickly cleared. All of this happened with just four minutes left.
Despite the Carleton onslaught, the Blues maintained their composure. Just when it looked like the chance to beat Carleton was gone, first-year midfielder Dylan Bams, picking up a superbly placed goal-kick from Smits, single-handedly wrestled the ball past three Ravens and scored a goal. The crowd erupted in jubilation.
The Ravens came on strong in the final stretch, but the Blues defence proved too much. The Blues’ win brought an end to the Ravens domination of the Eastern division and signaled the birth of a new rivalry between two of the top teams in Ontario.
“U of T men’s soccer is on the rise. We prepared for weeks for this game and we’re going from strength to strength right here. This is going to be a big win,” said Chung after celebrating with his teammates.
The Blues take on Trent on Saturday and the RMC Rams on Sunday at Varsity Centre. As the only team to shut out Toronto this year, Trent will challenge the Blues to pull off another strong offensive showing. RMC will no doubt be playing hungry as they continue to search for their first win.
